The Demka railway bridge; a unique location that required a unique solution. How can its rails be kept in optimum quality under all weather conditions? And how could this be done in as little time as possible? In collaboration with contractor Strukton, we came up with an idea that we were able to implement successfully.
Rails and bridges are both subjected to phenomena such as expansion or contraction of the material due to temperature fluctuations. Expansion can cause the rails to stretch out. This can result in the rails bending or buckling in a horizontal direction, which can cause curves and cracks. In order to deal with this problem, expansion welds are added. However, applying these in the track takes an extreme amount of time. Time that the contractor does not have within the work block available, especially not on a bridge. Often a critical point within the network. Our Rail Service Centre team sat down with Strukton in order to analyze this problem and created a logistics concept to solve the issue. Because where there’s a will, there’s a (rail)way.
The working title of the concept was ‘There’s no such thing as impossible’. In our Rail Service Centre, the expansion joint was attached to the lengthy rails with the aid of a flash but weld. Since this procedure is executed under fully controlled circumstances, the quality of the weld is always 100%, which considerably prolongs the rails’ lifespan. With our Robel train, we then delivered the welded rails - ready for installation and in the proper installation order - to the contractor at the exact location where they had to be placed. In this way, the contractor was able to install them directly, which significantly reduced the time required for keeping the rail trajectory occupied.
Do you have any (conceptual) questions about our compensation welds or rails? Do not hesitate to contact our Rail Services department or our international sales department.
